The line full of scum and villainy of more than 200 curled from Milwaukee Avenue around Richmond Street Wednesday night, as The Whistler played dress-up, transforming the divey cocktail bar into the celebrated and divey Mos Eisley Cantina from "Star Wars." The queue rivaled Hot Doug's, as guests waited up to three hours in their costumes for a taste of The Whistler's special drinks inspired by the movies and the new flick released this week.
The eight-drink menu included "Tattoine Sunset" (Malört, St. Germain, Peychaud's Bitters) and "Red Leader" (rye, dry vermouth, bitter, cacao, coffee bean). The entertainment highlight came from the house band, Silent Reading, which dressed up as aliens and performed tunes from the movies, including the Ewok song cut out by George Lucas for the special edition version of "Return of the Jedi." The Whistler staff donned tan hospital scrubs to look like they worked on Tattoine, the desert planet home of Luke Skywalker.
"Star Wars" was good for the Logan Square economy, as neighboring bars and restaurants enjoyed unexpectedly busy nights from nerf herders who didn't want to brave the line and needed some place to go. But in the end, everyone will have a chance to watch the new movie soon, so don't be a Sith full of hate and check out the photos above.
